The black metal scene might be one of the strongest in the metal music industry these days. Yup, that's definitely true. The music is still alive and kicking, a lot of bands innovating and many great albums. However, a lot of these albums don't have the black metal essence. The anger and the rage, the pure misanthropy that propelled Euronymous into notoriety, the fire burning in a viking's heart. We do miss these emotions, don't we? Let's end this nostalgia and go back in time to 1999, when a young German band called Nargaroth released their debut, Herbstleyd.

The 70-minute long traditional black metal albums kicks off with some Slavonic chants along with some parts spoken in German. This serves as a great ambient passage that precedes a maelstrom of black metal mastery. Despite their rawness, the tremolo riffs flow very smoothly, and are a proof of the big effort Kanwulf put into them. They sound freakingly good with the drums, which deliver some quite standard yet well-performed black metal drumming. Kanwulf's vocals are strong, and wolf-like at some moments.

You might have guessed that Herbstleyd isn't original or innovative. That might be right, it doesn't cross any creative borders. However, what Herbstleyd lacks in originality is made up for by the sheer atmosphere it engulfs the listener with. The music itself sounds melancholic, sad and angry. It screams in the face of the listener. Pure rage. The very thing they call the essence of black metal. Combine that with non-cheesy keyboards, very mysterious ambient passages and trademark black metal production and you're set to go.

Herbstleyd's main weakness, excluding its lack of originality, is the mammoth-like length of the album. I think it would have been shortened a bit to be better. Still, it's a very nice and mystical journey ranging from medieval ambiance to some of the best black metal riffage ever. If you want proof, you can listen to the song "Nargaroth", which is the best instrumental black metal song I've ever heard. Or you can listen to the whole thing. Something you won't regret.

Freakingly is not a word. Also, I think it would have worked better to merge the second and third sentence of the third paragraph and the first and second sentences to improve the fluidity of the review. Well done otherwise.

Freakingly is not a word. Also, I think it would have worked better to merge the second and third sentence of the third paragraph and the first and second sentences to improve the fluidity of the review. Well done otherwise.